I had been a student of ILC with Sifu Kelley Graham for less than six months when I decided that I would travel to Malaysia last month. For those who know me,this was remarkable on many levels. First, I am a notorious cheapskate and forking out the cash for an international plane ticket was quite out of character for me. Second, although I have traveled to many places around the world in my life, it was never at my leisure. I had never taken a vacation. Also, I was in the midst of multiple projects none of which were even close to completion. Nevertheless, I saw the days between the end of an eight week mindfulness program and the start of the fall college semester as the obvious time to go to Kuala Lumpur for a 7 day training event.
My fellow students have recently been posting the reasons why they train and this question comes to mind for me as the motive behind this trip. I have only limited experience with Tai Chi or martial arts. What is the attraction to ILC? I have mentioned in class that the partner training from the beginning was a hook for me. This is because in comparison to practicing a form, touching someone else has so much more to offer. But, there is more to it. When Sifu tells the story of how he was looking for something to take him deeper and that is ILC for him. I wondered why is this so? This was validated when I heard almost identical stories from the experienced students of internal Kung Fu who I met at the workshop.
This past April, I had the opportunity to train at a weekend workshop with Master Sam Chin in Mesa, AZ. I was able to meet ILC students from around the western USA and observe the grading process. Once again, I was impressed with the feel or the flavor of this experience. But, how was it different?
Let me attempt to describe the atmosphere of the Founder workshop in Kuala Lumpur. We were in Sijo's home while his son (Sigong) and family were staying there on vacation. It had a family feeling. Another son reading the paper in the kitchen. Sigong's wife watching us train from the couch. The kids upstairs, Friends coming and going. Break for tea and fruit with everyone crowded around the kitchen table. One bathroom for almost thirty people.
Another family aspect that is similar to our own school is that there were husband and wife students as well as parent and child participants.
All of the international students stayed at the same hotel and I shared a room with Irina, a neurologist from Russia. I recall that she had been practicing ILC for something like two years and had just attended the European summer retreat. Students had traveled from Russia, England Australia Singapore, Thailand and two of us from the USA. The local students attended on the weekend and whenever they could. There were many females; seven of the ten Russians, myself and a girl from the local school.
The rhythm was that we ate breakfast at the hotel; quite an international buffet I must say. I was able to enjoy a different meal of fresh,real food every day. then we were taken to Sijo's house and would train in his front room for a few hours, then break for a long lunch which generally included some type of excursion. train a few more hours into the evening then Sigong would direct us to a place to eat supper where he ordered for us. Then we were on our own until bedtime.
The first day of training began with Sigong explaining how his father's training method differed from the ILC curriculum and this was illustrated at some point by having students of progressive levels spin hands with Joey, the student from Australia. I don't know if he was chosen for his size or his experience with styles other than ILC, but the point was made that the curriculum makes a difference. The common language was English with a young man named Jackson from the local ILC school serving as a translator for Sijo and Masha (daughter of Alex) translating into Russian as well. We would start with a warm up similar to what we do in class here and then a standing meditation with emphasis on the 13 points. Then Sijo would explain the training that he wanted to do which was mostly "Breaking Bridges" Now, I felt certain that I was the least ILC experienced person there and I was able to stay with the training. For one thing, about a third of those in attendance were wearing intructor stripes on their sashes. Most notable being Alex, the senior Russian instructor. Also Sijo would say "first train this" when he saw that some us had no idea how to make a bridge never mind break one, and there was the same phenomena as exists in our school; students were partners in the training and facilitaing each others understanding was part of the process.
I had an opportunity to meet the founder of the art and see for myself both the origin and the potential evolution of it,
The "take away" lessons that were most meaningful to me were the continued emphasis on ILC as a training ground for life and that it is to be practiced with compassion.